England finished day one at 263-3 against hosts India in Chennai in the first of the four-Test series with English skipper Joe Root scoring another fine century in his 100th Test match. Root was unbeaten at 128 when the first day’s game came to an end.
This was Root’s third century in a row after he made 228 and 186 in the last two Test matches against Sri Lanka before England travelled to India.
England were 63-2 when Root came to bat. He added 200 runs for the fourth wicket with Dominic Sibley, who was eventually out for 87.
Speaking about his another impressive knock, Root told BBC, “It was a very special day. The guys organised a surprise for me last night and Ben Stokes in particular said some really nice things. It’s a really impressive start but it’s a just start. We’ve got to back it up tomorrow but it’s pleasing.”
Root is only the ninth batsman to hit a century in his 100th Test match.
Playing with just two seamers, Jasprit Bumrah and Ishant Sharma, India found it difficult to contain English batsmen, particularly Root and Sibley. India had dropped Mohammed Siraj, who claimed a five-wicket haul against Australia in the historic Brisbane Test. Also being dropped were Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav. Instead, India went for a spin trio of Ravichandran Ashwin, Shahbaz Nadeem and Washington Sundar.
While Ashwin scalped one wicket, the remaining two wickets went to Bumrah.
Former English bowler Phil Tufnell told the BBC that the loss of Jadeja ‘will be a big miss for India’ adding that Nadeem struggled to get his chance in the past because Jadeja and Ashwin have been ‘just brilliant.’